Catapult toy



Dec. 3l, 1957 G. J. GILBERTsoN CATAPULT TOY CATAPULT TOY Gerhard J. Gilbertson, Montevideo, Minn.

Application August 15, 1956, Serial No. 604,178

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-127) This invention relates to a catapult toy and more particularly to a triggered device for catapulting a ball.

It is an important object of the invention to provide a toy which will develop a childs skill in both throwing and catching balls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a catapult toy which is inexpensive and sturdy in construction and which adapts itself to folding and collapsing into a compact unit when not in use.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my catapult device, portions thereof being cut away and other portions shown in dotted line retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the toy showing the cradling projector in upward position after having ejected a ball; and

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the device, portions thereof being shown in vertical section.

With continued reference to the drawing my catapult toy has a supporting structure indicated generally at 10. The supporting structure in turn has a base 11 which may be box-like in character and provided with side walls 12 and a bottom 13 as shown. Each of the longitudinal opposed side walls 12 may be provided with a longitudinal slot 14 for receiving bolt 15 to which is secured a brace 16 securable at a preselected position along slot 14 by means of wing nut 17. Another portion of the supporting structure is a guide member 18 pivotally secured at 19 adjacent its lower end cross the opposed elongated sides 12 as shown in Fig. 1. The guide 18 has laterally extending brackets 19 and 20 at the upper and lower portions respectively and brace 16 is pivotally secured at 21 to the lower bracket 20 as shown. The guide 18 can be swung downwardly upon loosening of each of the wing nuts 17 so that the braces 16 will collapse inside the box 11 and the guide 18 will then become compactly folded within the box when the toy is not in use.

Within the brackets 19 and 20 of guide 18 is slidably received a ball-cradling projector indicated generally at 22. The rod or stem 23 of the projector 22 is elongated and uniform in cross sections for easy extensible and retractable sliding with respect to guide 18 as shown in Fig. l. At the upper end of the rod 23 is a ball-holder 24 which may be funnel shaped to retain a ball 25 as shown. The projector 22 together with ball 25 is not only biased to upward extended position and this may be accomplished by such means as tension spring 26 which is secured at its upper end to a fastener 27 on the bracket 19 and at its lower end to a clip 28 rigidly secured to the rod 23 intermediate its ends and at a position between the guide brackets 19 and 20. Rod 23 is provided with a catch opening 29 which is adapted to lie just below the side 'i nited States Patent 2,818,260 Patented Dec. 31, 1957 ICC bracket 20 when the ball-cradling projector is retracted to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1.

Latching means such as the pin 30 is received laterally in the guide. 18 and is biased toward the rod 23 by means of the spring 31 as shown. The pin 30 has an abutment 32 extending at the outer end thereof and the inner end 33 is adapted to be received within the opening 29 to latch the biased ball-cradling projector 22 in its dotted line position when so retracted.

A striking plate 34 is pivotally secured at 3S to the guide 18 and at a position intermediate the striking face 36 and the lever arm 37 as shown. The lever arm 37 loosely surrounds the pin 30 and lies between the abutment head 32 and the forward surface 38 of the guide 18. The forwardly facing surface 36 of pressure plate 34 is adapted to be struck by a ball 39 and for that purpose may be pivoted to the guide 18 in such a manner as to lie close to the plane of the bottom 13 of base 11.

During the use and operation of my catapult toy the guide 18 is moved upwardly from its collapsed position, swinging it about the pivot 19 until the desired upward and forward angulation is achieved. Wing nuts 17 at each side of the base are then tightened so that the braces 16 rigidly hold the guide in the preselected angulation. A ball 25 is then placed in the upward holder or funnel 24 and the rod 23 is retracted to the dotted line position of Fig. 1. This position will bring the opening 29 in alignment with the latch pin 30 and the inwardly extending end 33 will project thereinto and hold the entire ball-cradling projector in the dotted line position with the biasing means 26 tensioned and ready for projection.

The user then throws or rolls a ball 39 toward the forwardly facing surface 36 of striking plate 34 and, if he aims accurately, the plate will move arcuately about the pivot 35 and retract the extending end 33 of pin 30 from its latch opening 20. The ball-cradling projector will then snap upwardly under the influence of the biasing means 26 and the ball 25 will be thrown upwardly and forwardly toward the user. If the user is in the proper position he can then catch the ball 25. The device may be used with each participant attempting to see how many times he can strike the plate 34 with a ball 39 to catapult a ball 25 toward him and can similarly tabulate the number of times that he catches a ball 25. The device can be so set that the closer a participant stands while throwing a ball 39 toward the striking plate, the more difficult it will be for him to run back to catch the ball 25. A participant must therefore exercise the power degree of judgment in each case as Well as developing skill at throwing a ball and in catching a projected ball in Hight. Other adaptations of the catapult toy will suggest themselves to those using the device.

It may thus be seen that I have devised a novel and interesting game of skill utilizing catapult means for throwing one ball to a user in response to actuation by an accurately thrown ball, the device testing both the throwing and catching skill of one using the device.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which consists of the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A ball throwing device comprising a box-like base, a guide member pivotally secured adjacent one end of the base and adapted to lie closely thereover and to be swung to an upwardly and forwardly facing position, an adjustable brace pivotally secured to the guide member and interconnecting with said base for holding the guide member at a predetermined forwardly inclined angle, a ballc radling projector slidably received longitudinally within said; guide=memher=andz nvrmail'y biased upwardly vthere against'the bo'x-*likebase in compact form when not being from, said ,projeetor terminating. upwardly in a. hall.- used.

holder, a spring pressed latch pin on said guide member engageable with said projector for retaining it in lower References Cited inthe le of this patent position-wh rnespeeefm'nhelfguidemembeniaud-Striking 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS plate pivotallyseeuedftovthe guide member in depending 

